Amid reports of a startling increase in traffic fatalities and the role of electronic devices in distracted driving accidents, a family who lost their daughter are suing Apple for encouraging distracted driving with its FaceTime app.

The Modisettes were driving with their daughters Isabella and Moriah on interstate I-35 just north of Dallas when the car was hit by another car after it slowed down to anticipate traffic caused by an accident. Their daughter Moriah, who was just 5 years old, was extracted from the wreck and eventually died from the injuries she suffered. Officers who stepped in at the scene found that the driver who hit the family was on FaceTime at the time of the crash.

According to Insurance companies, via the New York Times, electronic devices are increasingly implicated in distracted driving deaths. The New York Times also reports that the increase in highway fatalities is the biggest in 50 years. There is confusion about how much distraction drivers can take on the road, with some suggesting that even the warnings and prompts from some newer vehicles can cause distraction, and that hands-free technology only takes some of the risk out of distracted driving.

However effective their efforts, technology and auto companies have begun to endeavor to combat these digital distractions by reducing distraction as much as possible, but the Modisettes’ argument was that Apple hadn’t even made their best efforts to do that. The case revealed that Apple had the patent for a safer version of its “FaceTime” app, which would prevent people using the app from while driving, but had failed to implement it.

The Modisettes argued that Apple had the technology to shut down the app while a user was driving since at least the end of 2008, and more specifically, the company possessed the capability to use GPS tracking to measure the speed of a vehicle in which a user was traveling. Given that the app goes beyond audio to engage the user in visual activity, the family argued that the distraction was a particularly dangerous one.

With traffic fatalities on the rise and insurance companies placing the blame on digital technology, auto and technology companies need to respond to the potential for harm by designing their products with drivers in mind.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a distracted driving accident involving digital technology such as SnapChat or FaceTime, please contact the boston car accident lawyers at Parker Scheer for a free, confidential consultation.

As distracted driving continues to assert itself as a factor in more and more traffic deaths, one safety issue with newer cars has the opposite effect and goes under the radar. Designers spend a lot of time getting the audio signals right for various driver assistance features and even speaker systems to reduce distracted driving, helping drivers in bigger vehicles talk to passengers in the back without turning around.

But while drivers may be protected, pedestrians may be increasingly vulnerable to accidents involving hybrid or electric cars that don’t make noise. At low speeds these vehicles are virtually inaudible.
The NHTSA has several times delayed putting a rule on pedestrian safety sounds into effect that could protect vulnerable pedestrians — despite being urged by the Department of Transportation.

Some cars, like the Nissan Leaf have systems like the Approaching Vehicle Sound for alerting pedestrians, but others, like the Tesla Model S, do not have them. As yet, there is no industry standard for electric vehicle warnings. Designers have encountered problems with designing sounds that not only alert pedestrians to the approach of a vehicle, but also from where it is approaching. Lower frequency sounds don’t do this as well. Higher frequency sounds do better but require more volume, which could cause distraction to a driver. Currently pedestrians may be at risk from electric cars that don’t have alert sounds, and as yet there are no rules to ensure these standards are in place.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a pedestrian accident involving an electric car, please contact the expert Boston Pedestrian Accident Lawyers at Parker | Scheer LLP today for a free, confidential consultation. (617) 886-0500

A new study again confirms that cell phones are the most dangerous and distracting devices to use while driving. The study measured the effects of various distractions that commonly impact a driver’s ability to competently navigate roads. The study tested the most common distractions drivers typically face. The use of a cell phone during vehicle operation multiplied the risk of crashing more than any other distraction presented. While drivers commonly use their cell phones, the potential consequences remain catastrophic and deadly.

The study, published by the New England Journal of Medicine, highlights the danger of many common distractions drivers face. The orchestrators of the study installed various sensors and cameras in the cars of 209 study participants. Of those participants, 49 were new drivers between the ages of 16 and 17 years old, and 167 of the drivers were adults with a wide range of driving experience. The various devices revealed the most impairing distractions, ranking the distractions according to the multiple which they increased a driver’s likelihood of crashing.

The motivation behind conducting this study is rooted in statistics. While only 6.4% of the driving population is between the ages of 15 and 20 years old, that age group accounts for 10% of all motor vehicle traffic deaths, and 14% of all car accidents resulting in injuries. These percentages are generally attributed to the fact that inexperienced and younger drivers are more prone to distraction. This study tends to confirm that theory.

Experienced drivers were only significantly distracted while attempting to dial a phone number. Many distractions significantly multiplied the risk of crashing amongst the novice drivers. The teenage drivers eating while driving were three times as likely to cause an accident. The young drivers were four times more likely to crash while texting, and were eight times more likely to crash while dialing a phone number.

Amongst all drivers, and especially amongst teenagers, using a cell phone substantially affects driving ability. Using a cell phone was shown to seriously delay reaction time to avoid hazards, increased following distances and the frequency of inadvertently crossing lanes, and substantially decreased drivers’ ability to react to and analyze their environment.

The consequences of using a cell phone while driving can be alarming, especially in light of the fact that cell phone-related distractions are entirely avoidable. Even so, many drivers subject themselves to these impairing distractions daily. Recently, a New Jersey court recognized the dangers of drivers’ cell phone use in a case where a person texted a driver and, while attempting to respond, the driver crashed his car and injured the plaintiff. The court held that not only could the driver be liable for negligently injuring the plaintiff, but so could the person who sent the text to the driver. The New Jersey decision gives rise to the possibility that the Massachusetts courts could impute similar liability to those who contribute to a driver’s distractions while operating a vehicle.